


A Human Spirit Ringin'

by ToTheMax



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Guess who's using his pastasona to cope, meeeeeee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23522533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToTheMax/pseuds/ToTheMax
Summary: Another night on the job for Zack
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	A Human Spirit Ringin'

**Author's Note:**

> HI YES this is gonna be some self indulgent shit that would have been put on a creepypasta review channel and called unrealistic and cringey but guess what IM unrealistic and cringey and I dont care

Zack let the nails on his bat scrape against the sidewalk as he travelled. What was once lit only by orange streetlights was slowly becoming bathed in the white fluorescent lights of a parking lot. He looked up, paused in his ambling, and saw only a couple cars in the lot.

"This is the place?" He asked, feeling the towering presence behind him. He squinted, unable to see much but smudges of light. "What am I looking at?"

 _"This is the place,"_ the figure behind him affirmed, stock still as ever. _"There is a woman being walked to her car by her boss. Another man is waiting by the doors."_

Zack felt his heart pick up pace. His tail twitched behind him, and he tightened his grip on his bat. "I'm guessing door guy is the guy I'm going for?"

_"To suit your morals, yes."_

"Perfect. Can you drop me a bit closer?"

Slenderman brushed Zack's hood, and if he had a face he'd be smiling. _"How about you try to handle this one on your own? It's not that far of a walk."_

Zack looked back at Slenderman, hesitating in his response due to a sudden fogging of his brain, but then she shot a grin at him. "Alright. Baby Zacky leaving the nest?"

_"If you need my assistance, I'll know."_

Zack sauntered through the parking lot, and slowly the colored smudges became more apparent to be people beside the front of the Walmart. He made an easy habit of ducking behind bushes and other cars in the lot so he wouldn't be spotted. The closer he got, the more his heart pounded and the more he understood the situation.

What he was after was a monster, a man who deserved it. 

He kept his bat over his shoulder as he made a wide arc, being lead mostly by feet scraping against asphalt and the woman's voice talking to her boss. He read her tone; she was obviously scared. _Poor girl. Don't worry, I'll take care of this._

Zack was right beside the man waiting by the door, and even though his vision was naturally bad he saw a familiar rage and bloodthirst on the man's features. He was so focused on the woman in the car, he didn't even see Zack standing beside him.

The man started walking forward, and Zack followed closely behind with muted footsteps. He saw the man with his hand in his jacket pockets which could only mean the worst.

_Wait for it… wait for it…_

The man set his hand on the car's door handle.

_Now!_

Zack leaped forward, swinging his bat out to stop right in front of the man's neck. Standing on his tiptoes, he grabbed the other end of the bat and jerked hard, sending the man flying back with a choked noise. "Now, why don't we step away from the door?" He seethed, adding a growl into his tone as he jerked again, throwing the man to the floor.

The man gasped, taking his hand out of his pocket to withdraw a knife. "What the fuck, a kid?" He snapped. "Get out of here! This doesn't concern you."

"It does now!" Zack smiled fake sweetly, prancing around him as he got to his feet to be between him and the car. "I don't know about you, but if I saw a poor woman needing to be walked to her car in the dead of night, followed by some psycho with a knife following her… I'd be inclined to help."

The man growled, starting forward with his hand out. "I dont need a fucking kid getting into this. Lemme guess, Tash sent you as some sort of bodyguard."

Zack felt a quick rise of fear as the man snatched him by the collar, and he raised his hands to claw at his hand. His bat fell to the asphalt below, and he was sure there was fear flashing in his eye.

 _"Focus, Zackary,"_ Slenderman said. _"You're stronger than him. Use your wits to your advantage."_

Zack regained himself, the tip of his tail curling around the handle of his bat. "So… you think she needs a bodyguard from you?"

"You don't know what she's done to me," he growled. Then, he pressed the knife up to Zack's neck. "Now how about you run the fuck away, and I won't carve your ass up."

Zack huffed, a smile gracing his lips. He jerked his head, flipping his hair out of his face to show off his perpetually bleeding eye socket. His smile grew as he saw the awestruck horror dawning on the man's face. Then, for a bit of dramatic flair, he added the rasp into his voice.

_"Empty threats, old man."_

With his tail, Zack swung his bat around and managed to get him in the shoulder. The man cried out, immediately dropping him, which allowed him to charge and tackle the man to the ground. As he grabbed his bat, he spoke over his cries of alarm.

"Now, listen here. This is usually where people do something like let you go because you learned your lesson. But I don't believe in that shit." The man quieted down, mostly because Zack's foot was heavy on his ribs. "I believe you had every chance every step of the way here to learn your lesson. I believe you _know_ the lesson you need to learn, but you just didn't. And I can't accept a poor fool like you wandering around like that."

The man reached for Zack's ankle, but he snarled and jammed the pointed edge of the nails on his bat into his wrist. "All you want to do is hurt people, is that right?" He twisted his bat, the man's scream sending an adrenaline rush through him, as did the sound of cracking bone. "You find someone too scared to defend themselves…" he looked back to the woman in the car, who was staring at him in wide-eyed terror. "You wanna find people like her, and fuck them up, don't you? Even after she says no a _dozen_ times over."

The man was speechless in pain, which made Zack chuckle and jerk his bat out of his arm. "Wow, not even gonna defend yourself? Is it because you know you're about to die? Are you trying to count all the things you wish you could have done?"

"Let me go," the man wheezed finally. "Please, I'm sorry! I… I won't do it–"

"They always say that," Zack muttered, cutting him off. "They always wait until I'm about to kill them, that they apologize. You didn't think to apologize and fix your ways before you tracked this lady down to where she works?"

Zack paused and turned again, noting that the woman had yet to even start her car. He made a motion to tell her to roll down her window, and she shakily obliged. "Hey, it's okay," he eased, "it's not you I'm here for. How long has this guy been giving you trouble?"

The woman looked down at her hands. "A, uh… a couple months now. Stalking me during my hours, asking my coworkers about me…"

Zack hummed sympathetically. "I see. Well, there's no need to worry about him anymore. You can go ahead and drive yourself home, it's my job to take care of scummy folks like him."

The woman faltered, tilting her head to the side. "What's wrong with your face?"

Zack smiled sweetly at her, patting the top of her car. "You have a nice night, now. I don't think you wanna stick around for much longer."

The woman once again hesitated, but then nodded. "Um… thank you."

With that, she rolled her window up and started her car. Zack looked back down to the man, busy with holding his bleeding wrist to try and escape. "Now, where were we?" He asked, raising his bat over his shoulder.

"Please," the man wailed, "No, please NO—!"

Zack grinned widely as his bat connected with the man's head with a _CRACK._ He opened his eye, a breathless laugh escaping as he watched the blood pool into the asphalt. The man's head was tilted backwards over the edge of the lot island, and if it weren't for the store lights still being on he wouldn't have seen the wondrous sight under the shade of the tree they were under.

 _"Well done, Zackary,"_ Slenderman praised, and Zack suddenly felt his presence behind him. _"The woman is safe now, as is any of his other victims."_

"Good," Zack breathed, his tail lashing excitedly behind him as the metallic smell finally hit him. He breathed in, then out, slowly. "Where to next?"

Slenderman turned only a little to peer into the forest beside the store. _"Home."_

Zack's smile dropped. "Home? Me? Go home?"

_"Your new home, I must correct. I am not taking you back to where you came from. Rather, somewhere you belong now."_

Zack swallowed, raising his bat to rest against his shoulder. "But… there's still people out there that deserve _this_." Zack pointed to the body on the ground with his bat. "Someone's getting hurt, and I can help them."

_"I must admit you impress me for holding out this long. You're exhausted, Zackary. You may feel as though you could do this forever, but even we have limits."_

"We?"

_"You'll meet them soon enough. Take my hand."_

Zack watched as Slendedman's long fingers uncurled and outstretched towards him. It hit him then just how much his head was buzzing, how long his eye stayed shut when he blinked. He felt an ache in his shoulder he hasn't felt in weeks. 

Slowly, he took hold of Slenderman's hand. He felt a cool sensation ripple over him, like he had resurfaced from a lake, and water was flying from him as he did so. His entire body jerked, and he nearly fell over had it not been for Slenderman to hold him upright. 

"Hoo!" Zack whooped, wiping his face with his free hand. "Felt different that time!" He laughed, stumbling through the trees for a while, knowing Slenderman was close by. "Where am I, anyway?"

His question was answered when he turned and looked up, his breath being forced out of his lungs at the sight. He was in such awe that he didn't wipe his nose when it started to bleed.

In front of hin was a black-brick mansion that towered over him, fitting in perfectly with the thick woodland around it. A couple lights on the higher floors were on, as was every light on the bottom. Inside, there was a general chatter of a busy home. Through one of the half-boarded windows he spotted people lounging on a couch.

Slenderman was directly behind him now, looking at the mansion with a silent fondness. His voice pierced through the static in Zack's head.

_"Welcome home, Zackary."_

**Author's Note:**

> SLENDERMAN IS MY D A D AND I AM N O T TAKING CINSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM


End file.
